MSI Caterpillar: An Effective Multisensory System to Evaluate Spatial Body Representation

Abstract

We live in a multisensory world where all our sensory systems are constantly stimulated and different sensory signals need to be integrated. Many works show that the brain is able to integrate redundant signals of a particular property. However, to date, there are no solutions to investigate how auditory, visual and tactile information are integrated by considering spatial, temporal and body representations. The goal of this work is to present a new system that has been developed for assessing multisensory integration considering also the body and its movements in space. The system, called MSI Caterpillar, gives the opportunity to study how multisensory signals are integrated taking into account spatial and temporal features of the stimulus and considering both the external and the body space. It is a set of several audio-visual and tactile elements arranged in the form of an array, to be positioned on the body (e.g. in the arm) or in the external space. The aim of this innovative technology is to design novel ways and clinical procedures to train and study how multisensory signal in different parts of the body and space are processed and can be rehabilitated in typical and sensory impaired (e.g. visually impaired or deaf individuals) children and adults.